Five years after launching SYNC ® with Microsoft, Ford has delivered more than 5 million vehicles with the award-winning connectivity system

SYNC's success based on open, flexible and agnostic Microsoft platform and vision for mobile connectivity being a growing consumer trend

Ford and Microsoft look to the future for next phase of the connected car experience to be based on intelligence through fusion of cloud computing and sensor data

Five years ago, Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) and Microsoft came together to launch the benchmark for in-vehicle connectivity systems with the introduction of SYNC. Today at the GigaOM Roadmap Conference, Ford CTO Paul Mascarenas and Microsoft Windows Embedded General Manager Kevin Dallas announced the 5-millionth vehicle equipped with SYNC has been sold and they shared their joint vision for continued leadership in development of the connected car.

"SYNC has helped us evolve as an automaker, to think and act more like a technology company, with a new level of openness and access that has forever changed how we look at our business and respond to our customers," said Paul Mascarenas, chief technical officer and vice president, Ford Research and Innovation. "Ultimately, SYNC embodies what Ford is all about: going further to transform innovative ideas into products that are affordable, attainable and valuable to millions of people."

When Ford and Microsoft first initiated the collaboration in 2005, the engineering teams recognized that mobile electronics were quickly becoming an increasingly important part of people's lives as cell phones and digital media players. Considering how quickly mobile device usage had grown in just the previous few years, the development team decided a new development approach was needed going forward.